


hate me love me

by that_fandomlife



Series: 12 days of junhao [11]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Party, Drunken Confessions, Drunkenness, Enemies to Friends, Hostile, M/M, Maybe Lovers, Office Party, Petty comments, Work/office setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28274883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_fandomlife/pseuds/that_fandomlife
Summary: Jun and Minghao are coworkers and hate each other, believed that that was how their relationship was always going to be. But then a drunken confession changed all of that.
Relationships: Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Series: 12 days of junhao [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055507
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	hate me love me

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~~ ^.^ 
> 
> Today's prompt: “We’re coworkers who hate each other but you’ve had too much to drink at a staff Christmas party and admitted to your love for me and now i don’t know how to act around you now” 
> 
> Second to last short story of this series~~ enjoy!

Minghao groaned, seeing four more emails pop up when he refreshed his inbox. He had just spent the last hour cleaning it too: sifting through his emails and replying to them as well as forwarding other ones to different departments. But alas, no matter how much he stayed on top of his emails, his inbox would never be completely clean. No matter how many emails he forwarded or replied to, two more would take its place.

He glanced at the time on his monitor screen, seeing he still had a few hours left of work. It was the day before Christmas Eve, which would be the start of his short, two day, but blissful holiday vacation. He was more than ready for it to begin, and yet the day just seemed to drag on.

This couldn’t get any worse. 

But he was quickly proven wrong when he heard a not-so-pleasant voice getting closer and closer to his cubicle. 

“Yeah, of course I’m going to be there. It’s better I go, so I can grace everyone with my charming good looks, right?” 

“Yes, definitely, Jun. Grace everyone with your presence, or however you want to put it. Seungcheol just wanted me to remind you to pick up the cookies from the bakery for the staff Christmas party tonight.”

“Yeah, I got it. Your boyfriend didn’t need to remind me. I’m on top of it. He knows I’m one of the best employees here. That’s probably why he asked me.” 

“Sure, Jun.” 

“Hold on, I need to stop here for a second.” 

_ Oh dear god please help me. _

Minghao then heard a knock on his cubicle wall. Minghao took a deep breath before he turned his spinning chair around. Alas, he saw Wen Junhui leaning on the doorway of his cubicle. One of his friends and their coworkers, Jihoon, was standing beside him.

“Hey, babe. Did you get that email I forwarded to you?” He asked. 

Minghao tried not to roll his eyes. 

“Yes, I did. I’ll get on it as soon as I can,” Minghao replied, “And stop calling me that.” 

“Why? Does it bother you?” 

“No, because I’m not someone that’s going to tolerate you and your pet names,” Minghao replied, “Have you ever tried to humble yourself? Try to be a decent person? Maybe I wouldn’t dislike you as much.” 

“I’m just trying to liven things up here, Minghao, for the sake of people like you,” Jun answered, “You need to loosen up. You’re so uptight.” 

Minghao stood up and glared at Jun. 

“I am  _ not _ uptight. I just can’t  _ stand _ people who spend more time blowing kisses at themselves in a mirror than actually doing their job.” 

Jun scoffed. 

“For your information, I actually  _ do _ do my job  _ while _ loving myself in the process. Maybe you should try it sometime,” Jun said, “Oh wait… maybe not. You’re barely likable.” 

“You’re one to talk. You act like the world should fall at your feet like you’re some kind of god or something. What about that is likable?” Minghao asked, infuriated. “And don’t even get me started on that phony, shallow love you give to yourself. Do you do that because you’re so desperate for attention that, while everyone else is doing their job, you have to give it to yourself? That’s just embarrassing.”

Jun’s eyes widened. He started to speak up, but Jihoon stepped in front of him. 

“Jun, step on the brakes,” Jihoon said, “You’ve said enough.” 

Jihoon then turned around to face Minghao. 

“You too, Minghao,” he said, “You two can barely talk to each other without trading insults. Will this ever end?” 

“When Jun spends less time flirting with me, himself, and everything that breathes, then I won’t have a problem with him,” Minghao replied. 

“And when Minghao is actually a fun person to be around, then maybe I’ll warm up to him,” Jun followed. 

Jihoon sighed. 

“Why do I even bother trying?” He muttered. “Let’s just go, Jun.” 

He grabbed Jun’s wrist and pulled him away from Minghao’s cubicle. Minghao sighed in relief, sitting back down in his chair when he and Jihoon turned a corner, leaving Minghao’s sight. 

“And that marks yet another insult-filled conversation with your worst enemy, Wen Junhui.” 

Minghao turned to face Seokmin, his next-door coworker, who was looking back at him, his head peeking over the cubicle wall.

He sighed as he leaned back into his spinning chair. 

“He’s so cocky and conceited; it’s annoying. I can’t believe anyone would want to spend even just a second with him. If I ever had to spend more than five minutes with him outside of a meeting, I would scream.” 

“You know, his flirtiness is just… one of his charms. It’s a part of his personality. He’s not like that all the time.” 

“But the times he is, I swear to god. I want to just punch that smug smile off of his face.”

“Alright. Calm down, Minghao,” Seokmin said, “Even if you wanted to hurt him, you can’t. It’s company policy: no physical harassment towards other employees.”

“I mean, I would never do it; I’m not an asshole. Sometimes though, he does deserve it.” 

Seokmin softly laughed.

“Yeah, sometimes he and his ego need a reality check,” he agreed, “So, are you staying late for the staff party?” 

“Yeah, of course,” Minghao replied, “I’ll be there, eating, drinking, making conversations, participating in the cheesy games Seungcheol plans every year, and avoiding Jun at all costs.”

Seokmin simply laughed in reply. 

“Well, at least you’ll be there. I thought the mention of Jun being there would be enough for you to skip out.” 

“And hear Seungcheol whine about how he wished I was there? No way,” Minghao said, “There’s no way I won’t feel guilty about it for the next month if he does.” 

“Yeah, agreed.”

Seokmin then returned his attention to his monitor screen. Minghao continued to do the same and continued to work on his projects. 

He hoped the staff Christmas party would, for the most part, be uneventful. 

___

Once Minghao had done everything on his to-do list, he turned off his computer before he stood up and stretched. He yawned, looking at the clock on the wall. 

It was 5:00, and most of the office was empty. Minghao had the tendency to work later than most of his coworkers, so he assumed everyone was already at the holiday party. He pushed his spinning chair back into his desk. He stood up and grabbed his messenger bag before heading to floor five, where that biggest meeting room was and where the holiday party was taking place. 

Once the elevator opened on the fifth floor, he walked out, already hearing the Christmas music playing. He walked towards the meeting room and arrived, already seeing the food and drinks through the glass walls of the meeting room. He walked in, noticing the Christmas music playing in the background. He put his messenger bag by the door and looked around to see who was here. 

Seungcheol was helping Jeonghan put drinks on the table. Soonyoung and Seokmin were eating cookies while laughing, seemingly telling jokes to each other. Other employees were saying their hellos to each other wishing each other good holiday wishes. He then saw Jun was standing around with Jihoon with a cup in his hand. He rolled his eyes when Jun noticed his gaze and winked in his direction. 

Seokmin approached him.

“Hey, Minghao,” he said, “Come join us!”

Seokmin pulled him over to Soonyoung, where he joined in on their small conversation. 

Once everyone was there, everyone started to grab food. After Minghao had a plate full of food, he walked over to the drink table. He saw water, hot cocoa and what looked like to be eggnog. Minghao reached out to grab a cup, but Seokmin spoke up. 

“Just to let you know, the eggnog is spiked. Jeonghan somehow convinced Seungcheol to let him bring it.” 

Minghao immediately pulled his hand away.

“Ah. Thanks.” 

He grabbed a bottle of water instead. He didn’t want to take chances with the eggnog. He then went to sit by Seokmin and Soonyoung, and they all started to talk about their day at work and any other Christmas plans they had. It was all good conversations. 

Once everyone finished eating, the games started. The first two were Christmas-themed charades and mafia. The next game Seungcheol had planned after those two was a partner game, which was trivia about Christmas. Minghao decided to sit this game out and sat down at the back. He watched as everyone found a partner and sat down together. The game started when Seungcheol explained the rules and asked the first question. 

Before he could even hear the question, he felt someone’s wrap around his shoulders.

“Haohao!” 

Minghao’s eyes widened, familiar with the voice. 

_ What the hell?  _

Minghao turned around, seeing Jun, out of all people, with his arms wrapped around him. Jun leaned in closer, squishing his cheeks against Minghao’s. He was swaying back and forth, moving Minghao with him.

_ There goes my plan of avoiding Jun.  _

“Jun, what the hell are you doing?” Minghao asked, slightly irritated.

Jun must have sensed his irritation because his smile dropped.

“I just wanted to talk to you. You… You were so… so busy with Seokmin a-and Soonyoung, a-and then you w-were here alone… sooooo I came over to talk to you!” 

“Why? To give me another insult?” 

“No! You just look-ed so… SO prettyy. A-And I wanted to tell you. You’re so prettyyyy!” 

Jun paused.

“Oh wait, did I say that already….?” 

He then shrugged. 

“Oh well,” he said, “Will you say some pwetty??? Pwetty pleaseeee?”

Minghao furrowed his eyebrows. He stood up and Jun continued to cling onto him. Minghao pulled away, and this time, Jun allowed him to. Minghao looked back, putting his attention on Jun instead of the game. He could see Jun was swaying in his spot. He then met Jun’s eyes and saw that his eyes weren’t completely focused on Minghao. 

He then realized.

“Jun… are you drunk?” 

“No!” he replied, as if he were offended. “‘M not drunk. Just... having fun!”

Minghao sighed. He helped Jun into the chair next to his before he went to grab a bottle of water. He came back and sat back down, holding the water bottle out to Jun.

“Here, drink this. It’ll help sober you up.” 

‘M not drunk!” He exclaimed, swatting the water bottle away, leaving it to fall to the ground. “Just lemme look at your….” 

Jun’s gaze then turned to his face, taking in every feature, as if it were the first time he was looking at Minghao’s face. His jaw dropped to the ground.

“Wow, you’re so pretty, Haohaooooo.” 

Minghao rolled his eyes.

_ If this is just another way for him to insult me, I swear. _

“Please stop flirting with me and calling me that. Just because we’re out of work, it doesn’t mean I’ll continue to tolerate it.” 

“No no nooooo make me leave. I love youuuuu.” 

If there was any perfect time for a record scratch to play out loud, it would be now because… what did Jun just say? Minghao’s breath got caught in his throat. 

“What?” Minghao asked. “You’re fucking with me.” 

“No I’m nottttt,” Jun insisted, “I pretend-ded to… to hate you, so you wouldn’t see nuthin. But I reallyyyy like you. When ‘m not there, I see how y-you talk a-and are living. You’re so nice a-and luvly, a-and adorable, t-the most prettiest, adorablest, wonderfulest boy ever.” 

Minghao stared at Jun in disbelief. He then let out a nervous laugh because… how else was he supposed to reply?

“Shut up, Jun. Stop saying things you don’t mean.” 

“But I do!” Jun exclaimed, making Minghao jump, “I mean it w-with all my h-heart. I-I pwa-mise.”

Minghao looked at Jun, and under the cloudiness in Jun’s eyes, he could see a sense of… seriousness in Jun’s eyes. It’s almost like, if not for his drunken state, he still would’ve said it except with better, more genuine words.

Did Jun  _ really _ mean what he said?

“Oh dear, no one told Jun about the spiked eggnog, did they?” 

Minghao looked up and saw Seungcheol standing with them. 

“I guess not.” 

“Oh no,” Seungcheol said, sighing, “I told Jeonghan if he was going to bring spiked eggnog, he’d have to tell everyone. I guess Jun didn’t get the message.” 

“Haohao…. talk to meee,” Jun said, pouting.

Minghao could feel his heart melt a bit at Jun’s pout. It was, dare he say,  _ cute _ ? 

His eyes then widened when Jun grabbed his arm and pulled him in close, so their bodies made contact. Minghao’s breath got caught in his throat; he had never been this close to the older before.

“I could look at you foreverrrr, because you’re so cuteeee!” Jun sang. 

Seungcheol must have been able to tell how shocked Minghao was because he leaned in towards them.

“Okay, Jun. Let’s give Minghao some space,” Seungcheol said, pulling Jun away. 

“Noooooo,” Jun replied, trying to grab at Minghao again, only for Seungcheol to hold him back. 

“Hey what’s going on over here?” Jihoon asked as everyone else started to crowd around them.

Jihoon then looked at Jun and Minghao, and it processed in his head. 

“Oh.” 

“What should we do here?” Seungcheol asked. “We probably shouldn’t leave him here, right?”

“Probably not, especially with how he is now,” Jihoon replied, “I can take him home. I’ll come back here in time for your last game and to help clean up.” 

“Sounds good,” Seungcheol said, kissing the top of Jihoon’s cheek, “Drive safe, okay?”

Jihoon nodded, returning the kiss. He helped Jun up from the chair, despite his protests to keep “cuddling his Haohao to the fullest” and led him out of the room. Once they were out of sight, Seungcheol put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Is everything alright? I know you and Jun aren’t the fondest of each other.” 

Minghao, still thinking about Jun’s words, nodded. 

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine.” 

“Okay. Well… we’re going to start musical chairs if you want to join.” 

“Okay. I’ll join in a bit.”

Seungcheol walked off as they started to set up the game. Even through the chaos, Minghao couldn’t stop thinking about what Jun said. 

_ “You’re so nice a-and luvly, a-and adorable, t-the most prettiest, adorablest, wonderfulest boy ever.”  _

It has been said before that people in a drunk state tend to be more honest? Sure, Jun was drunk, but was anything he said true? Was he just spitballing? Was it just his flirty nature seeping into his drunken state and he didn’t actually mean anything he said? 

Minghao wasn’t sure. Seungcheol was right: he wasn’t the fondest of Jun, but after his drunk confession, he wasn’t sure how to talk to him, much less how to act around him anymore.

___

After the two days off he got for Christmas Eve and day, Minghao was back at his desk, leaning back into his spinning chair. He was twirling a pen between his fingers. 

It was still early in the day. He had a list of things to do and catch up on after the days off, but he couldn’t seem to concentrate on any of it. 

After spending Christmas with his family, he dreaded being back at work, because it meant that there was the chance that he’d see Jun, and after his drunken confession, Minghao didn’t know what to say to him or how to act around him. 

Jun and Minghao hated each other; that was their reputation in the office. It’s how everyone would describe their relationship. They sat at opposite ends of the break room during their lunch break. When they were alone, someone always had to be in the room to be there in fear the first punch would finally be thrown. When they were in the same meetings, and one of them spoke over the other, someone always had to step in and neutralize the situation. They were never meant to be anything more than coworkers, but Jun’s confession changed all of that. 

Now what? What was their relationship now? Surely things would change now, especially if Jun remembered everything. 

Just then, Minghao heard a knock on his cubicle wall. He jumped before he turned around. His eyes slightly widened at the sight of Jun standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” Minghao said, sitting up straight. 

“Hey,” Jun replied, “So… how was your Christmas?” 

Jun actually talking to him? Instead of dropping some ridiculous pick up line? This was new. 

“It was good. I spent it with my parents. We exchanged gifts, had food, and watched movies.” 

“Oh, nice to hear.” 

“Yeah… how was yours?” 

“Same as yours. I went over to my parents house. We exchanged gifts. My little brother and I had a snowball fight while my parents made dinner. Then we ate together.” 

“Oh… sounds nice,” Minghao said, “I didn’t know you had a brother.” 

“Oh… yeah, I do. He’s in middle school.” 

“Oh, nice.” 

“Yeah…,” Jun trailed off. 

They stayed silent, not sure of what else to say. Their conversations were always filled with petty comments with an hostile undertone. They weren’t used to having a civil conversation. Minghao almost wanted to excuse himself to the bathroom to get himself out of the awkward situation, but then Jun cleared his throat.

“So… I came here because… I wanted to talk to you… about what happened at the staff party and… what I said… when I was drunk.” 

“Oh… okay.” 

“Yeah… I didn’t know the eggnog was spiked. No one told me. I just really like eggnog, so of course I drank a lot of it. I didn’t expect to get drunk.” 

“Understandable. I had the feeling Jeonghan didn’t tell everyone. I heard it from Seokmin.” 

“Oh,” Jun said, “Yeah I wish someone had warned me. I remember saying some things. With other parts I couldn’t remember, Jihoon filled me in.” 

“Ah…,” Minghao said, trailing off.

Once again, silence sat between them. Minghao knew that there was an answer lingering on the tip of Jun’s tongue; it was the answer to the question Minghao had buzzing in his mind.

“Did you mean… what you said?” 

Jun bit his lip, hesitant to answer. But, eventually, he sighed. 

“I did.” 

Jun paused.

“I admit, I am a flirt. I throw pick up lines, pet names, and compliments around, because that’s just my personality, and you seemed to hate me for that from the first moment we met. I'll admit, I didn’t like you much at first either, but then I saw you joking with Seokmin and Soonyoung. I saw another side of you that I was really intrigued by. I watched from afar more times, and I… started falling for you. I wanted to see more of that side, for me, and not just from afar, so… I started approaching you more, just to try to get to know you more, but you were always so hostile with me,” Jun explained, “I really must not have given a good first impression on my first day, because you seemed to hate me just as much as the first day, probably even more. I figured I’d never have the chance to see the soft, sweet Minghao, so… I kept up with the flirt persona around you and pretended to hate you as well, so you’d never find out about my true feelings. I thought it’d help me get over my feelings, and that I could convince myself that I don’t have feelings for you… but they just grew with these past years, and at the staff party, when I got drunk… it all just spilled out.”

Minghao, shocked at Jun’s explanation, didn’t know what to think or say. All these years, he thought Jun hated him because he hated Jun. He never thought it was some cover. 

“Oh… I had no idea,” Minghao said, not being able to think of anything else to say. 

“No one did. I didn’t tell anyone this.”

Then silence sat between them, neither of them knowing what to say. 

“So… what now?” Minghao asked. 

“If it were up to me… I’d ask you on a date,” Jun said with a small yet confident smile.

Minghao could feel his face heat up before hiding his face behind his hand. He took a deep breath before removing his hand and looking up at Jun. 

“Can we start off as friends first? I… have to work on not wanting to punch your face every time I see you.” 

Jun let out a small laugh, and Minghao swore his heart skipped a beat. 

“That’s fair,” he said, “But… someday… could we… maybe?” 

Minghao gave him a small smile. 

“Yeah, maybe someday.” 

Jun beamed. 

“That’s good enough for me,” he said, “Well… I have to get back to my desk. There’s a lot of voicemails and emails I need to answer. I’ll see you later?”

Minghao smiled and nodded. 

“Yeah.” 

Jun returned the smile before he walked out of Minghao’s cubicle. Once he was out of sight, Minghao turned around to his desk, starting to work on the projects that needed his attention. 

While working, the smile never left his face. 

Actually being friends with Jun? 

He liked the idea of that. 

**Author's Note:**

> Enemies to friends to.... lovers? I'll let you guys decide. 😉
> 
> I hope you enjoyed ^.^
> 
> Last one is coming tomorrow~~


End file.
